It has been absolutely crazy this week, as far as my schedule, so I haven't been able to blog about last weekend, May 23rd through 25th -- which was Memorial Day weekend to most, but a Big Birthday Weekend for me and Mitch! It included, once again, some solid PL training. My kid captured the 185 BP on video this time (I attempted 190 because I am crazy that way)... and a 280 and 285 SQ, with a PR 315 lb. walkout, followed by a 350 lb. static hold to boot (because... same reason).
The fun also included a night of birthday appetizers and drinks with UFC Fights at Major's in Inver Grove Heights with James "Priest" Burdette and his wife Dawn... a few hours of fun at Grand Slam in Burnsville with my son, Glen... and a beautiful birthday dinner and evening in Stillwater at the Dock Cafe. Not to mention a couple of really nice, long hikes/walks on the Gateway Trail and around Lake Como / Como Park Zoo... and the very infamous Ben & Jerry's cake.
Well, it finally happened: I pulled a 340 lb. deadlift today!!! -- a number I’ve been chasing for a while now! And Mitch, who was watching, told me I could have likely pulled 345!!!
YES -- my best training deadlift is finally bigger than my best competition deadlift -- going from 330 to 340!
And it's a DL PR to add to my BP PR's... I am so thankful things are going well with my training...
The funny part was that I wasn't even feeling entirely "up to it" and had to get myself as mentally jacked as I could. This was in record time, another approx. 30 min. workout. It is crazy that the less time I have to train, the better. Not enough time to worry or “over-think” it, I guess… but not enough time for ANY assistance work at all in several weeks (maybe even months), either. Not even conventional DL's for some weeks.
This has got to be sheer will -- and a lot of faith, too.
No video, though! Not enough time, plus (once again) I didn't know what was going to happen. Last time we tried to video a 340 attempt, it was not so great. But I am pretty excited that today's 340 felt like 325-330 used to feel to me. And that infamous sticking point?...it was surprisingly not as slow as my 335 and 336 pulls in recent meets. I actually yelled myself through the final few inches.
So I am gunning for new numbers now... I am stoked!! :)
Please stay tuned for some info on my next meet, which I am currently trying to choose and nail-down...
Last week, I posted on a couple of "different" PRs (personal records). This week, I continue to be very happy to share that I've taken those further once again...
Thursday, I got up to a 325 lb. deadlift in 30 minutes (what's cool is that it went up with a less effort than other times I've pulled it; it moved smoothly and easily).
And today, I managed to put up a 185x1 BP!!! I have tried this other times in the past and always failed with it. Finally, the day had arrived!
What was cool was that I went from a 170x1 straight to it. The 170 felt slower than usual, so -- although I went into training with the goal of a 185 today, I second-guessed myself -- asking Mitch, who was thinking I should go 180.
But then as I changed the plates, I decided to get rid of all the little plates and slap a 25 lb. next to each 45 lb.... for a 185.
Yes, I really wanted to give it a go again, especially with all the heavy board press work I've been doing for several weeks. I felt that if I hit failure again with it, it would be disappointing but would not devastate me...I needed to give myself the chance to try it by just doing it.
I didn't even bother to ask my kid to video tape this one, because I wasn't sure what would happen.
All that heavy board pressing has made regular benches feel "lighter" than they used to; and I'm finding that they go up a lot easier once they fall into the right path/"groove."
Following this cool PR, I put 205 on the bar and did a double (which was getting tough!)...here's the video of that work:
This week, I was able to get some personal records of a different kind:
Fastest deadlift workout ever -- 30 minutes -- while still hitting 315 lbs., and board press personal bests of 200x2 and 205x1 (with a pause!) during a great bench training day today.
Here's some video footage of that:
Once again, great video work by my 11-year-old son, Glen; and Mitch and I were joined by James "Priest" Burdette (holding the boards)...
I put up 175x1 easily, and then attempted 180x1 (shown in the video) which went up slower, but I haven't benched that in over 3 years -- anywhere.
Most exciting, I finally held 200 lbs. in my hands and then did board presses with that for 2 reps!
Here's where training partners make a huge difference: Mitch encouraged me to do another set after that. Priest suggested making that set a 205 lb. single with a pause... and it moved better than the 200 lbs.!
It's still sinking in that I actually held this weight today...
This is something that has never happened before: I have actually gotten PRs (personal records) with board presses during the last two weeks of my bench training -- with poundages I had never held in my hands before, benching.
Here's 185x2x2, taken April 18th (after a heavy single bench press of 170x1, touching my chest):
And just yesterday, I board pressed 190x2 and 195x2 (after a heavy single 175x1, touching my chest)!! I thought I had my video camera in my gym bag with me yesterday -- but as it turned out, I had taken it out, and it was at home on the kitchen table. My son Glen once again still captured these sets, but with his cell phone (which takes videos. That thing saves video files in a weird format/file extention that YouTube cannot upload, unfortunately. I'm thankful at least I have it on my computer to be able to watch (it can be played on Windows Media Player and Quicktime). 190x2 and 195x2 moved easily again, much to my shock.
I was strongly entertaining the thought of adding 2.5 lb. plates on each end, and moving 200 lbs., but Mitch read my mind and suggested saving that for another day.
Yes, these are board presses, but I've never been able to handle this kind of weight with boards before... so I'm stoked :)
Thank God I have actual lifting to fall back on, instead of trying to be in charge of everything in USAPL (or, at least, USAPL Minnesota), as some people seem to live for.
Don't ever "volunteer" to keep your mouth shut, when dirty politics seem to rule over common sense decision-making.
You might be accused of airing out "dirty laundry." But someone needs to use some Tide every now and then, especially after busting their ass in this sport -- mysteriously having their state records deleted from the history books -- and trying to help out in this federation, when things aren't as they should be.
A few weeks ago, I was talking with my brother Roy about getting into the gym and fitting a good workout into our busy schedules, despite heavy work demands. He was on the road and managed to get a late night training session in at the nearest gym – and made sure to let me know this fact. I am always proud to hear this, coming from my 42 year old bro’ who used to hit the weights pretty hard (not for powerlifting, for bodybuilding – but still).
I credit Roy with introducing me to old school gyms and heavy weights – and the glory of lifting them – in the first place. It all started when he got a membership at Bath Beach and Bodyworks Gym in Brooklyn, New York – he was a teenager, and I was a little kid – and he never stopped talking about it (or flexing in front of the mirrors at home). When I was 10, he made me a pro-wrestling fan during the World Wrestling Federation’s heyday (the Big 80’s), looking up to these muscle-bound men in spandex who went airborne off turnbuckles, surrounded by packed arenas. Then, he got me a set of free weights for my 16th birthday, which I put to use at home. And when he served in the U.S. Military, he toted me alongside him and had me watch him work out – and try it myself – at the Air Force Base gym in Bangor, Maine, when I was 17. I joined THE GYM Training Center in Fridley, Minnesota when I was 19 to gain some weight; and when I visited Roy the next year, we trained at the Minot Air Force Base gym in North Dakota…
Long story short, he didn’t know that was all going to translate to his skinny little sis’ becoming obsessed with the sport of powerlifting, to the point of winning national championships and representing the USA internationally.
Speaking of that…we spoke about that, too. We got on the topic of Women’s Nationals; he asked me some really great questions, as he likes to pick my brain every now and then – and he asked from the perspective of someone very familiar with the weights, but not personally familiar with the training and competition aspect of powerlifting.
“Do you think you could do those lifts again?”
My immediate reaction was a definite “yeah,” because I was already thinking ahead about what new PRs (personal records) I want to achieve next. But he added that he was curious because I had mentioned that my max lifts at Nationals were real tough – I had to give everything I had, and more, to successfully lock them out.
For example, a peek into how I had to grind-out 336 lbs. for my final deadlift:
Or the even-more-painfully-slow 176 lb. bench press (which my competition kicked to the curb with her 198 lb. lift):
That led me to talk about how having close competition drove me to deliver the very best that I could – which turned out to be a 9-for-9 performance this time, for the first time in my life. I guess the real answer was, “Yes – if I want to, badly enough… or if I have to… yes, I could do them again. And, if I continued to train hard, I could do more.”
I am a believer that you could talk yourself into doing anything (or not doing it): “The power of life and of death is in the tongue.” Self-fulfilling prophecies are real. Your actions follow your words, which follow your thoughts. It all starts with what you believe, what you choose to focus on, and what you tell yourself. There’s reality –and much of that is the reality you create.
So he also asked me to compare the competition I typically face at Nationals, to that at World’s, and how that affects my lifting. A common theme of discussion related to what went down in Miami (and at the other Women’s Nationals I’ve won) has been how having competition motivated me. After I won in 2007, former IPF World Champion Ann Leverett told me I am “definitely a meet lifter,” meaning that under stressful conditions, high expectations, and around challengers doing their very best… I do my best.
I’ve lifted at three Nationals and had close competition at each one. So I’ve achieved personal bests at these meets – the “worst” ones being 8-for-9 performances (missing just one attempt). However, at IPF World’s in 2007, I felt as though I was lifting alone, against myself, since almost all the other women in my weight class – the 48 kg., in which I was new – were so far out of my league. And the drop in my total – from a 783 at Nationals in February, to a 749 at that meet in October – seemed to reflect that. (My best deadlift was a 309!!) Two years prior to that, at the World’s in 2005, I had very close competition from Laurence Hernandez of France. I tied her to win the overall bronze medal in the 44 kg. class by lighter bodyweight.
I will also say that lifting these big weights is the ultimate form of stress relief for me. Literally, one hour in the gym in which I pull 330 lbs. is often a manifestation of a huge release of frustrations – and a desire to compensate for other times in which I have failed – by NOT failing. Rather, by crushing. Overcoming. In a matter of seconds.
All the more rewarding when some would say it cannot –- or should not –- be done.
For a variety of reasons, I have declined my spot on Team USA for the IPF World's in India later this year. I have no definite meet in the near future, other than the NAPF/IPF Pan American Championships in August. What is going to motivate me in the meantime, and keep me coming back into the gym?
Time will tell. But a lot of it will probably have to do with that one pound that stands between me and 800...
Three-time USA Powerlifting National Champion, IPF Open World Silver and Bronze Medalist and NAPF Gold Medalist - 97 and 105 lb. Open classes; WABDL World Deadlift Record Holder - 105 lb. Open and National Deadlift Record Holder - 97 lb. and 105 lb. Open; USAPL American Bench Press Record Holder - 97 lb. Open
